Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

By Michael L Grooms

A daily chat with Pastor Mike and other resources to encourage listeners to connect with the Word of God and grow in their faith.... more

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May 17, 2024 Joshua 1:10-11 - Joshua Encourages the Leaders
For the past several days we have been looking at how God
encouraged His servant Joshua to lead the people of Israel to cross the Jordan
River and conquer the Promise Land. In verses 1-9, God gave Joshua a
commission, gave him His promises, gave him His Word, and gave him His command
to go! Every day in our spiritual journey we face new challenges, problems, and
issues and we need to be encouraged too!

I will never forget in my four years at Lynchburg Baptist
College (1971-1975), now Liberty University, how often that Dr. Jerry Falwell spoke
on the subject of discouragement. He knew this new generation of church leaders
that he was mentoring and preparing for ministry would be tempted to quit as
they faced the hardships of ministry. Dr. Falwell would often say that the
devil’s best tool to keep a Christian from serving is discouragement. He would
go on to say, “God can’t use a discouraged Christian”. The quote I really
remember was: "A man’s greatness is measured not by his talent or his
wealth, but by what it takes to discourage him."

It is amazing that fifty years later America is facing a
similar crisis to what we were facing in the late 60’s and early 70’s. And if
there was ever a time in our history that believers need to rise up, speak up,
and deal will the terrible evils that are destroying our great nation, it is
today! We need to be encouraged to remember that “The Battle is the LORD’s”,
and He will enable us and empower us to be victorious over all our enemies!

Joshua had been encouraged by the LORD and now he sought to
encourage his leaders (vv. 10-15). The nation of Israel was so organized that
Moses could quickly communicate with the people through his officers who formed
a chain of command (Deut. 1:15). Moses didn't assemble the leaders to ask for
their advice but to give them God's orders. There are times when leaders must
consult with their officers, but this was not one of them. God had spoken, His
will was clear, and the nation had to be ready to obey.

Forty years before, at Kadesh Barnea, the nation had known
the will of God but refused to obey it (Num. 13). Why? Because they believed
the report of the ten spies instead of believing the commandment of God and
obeying by faith. Had they listened to Caleb and Joshua—the minority
report—they would have spared themselves those difficult years of wandering in
the wilderness. There is a place in Christian service for godly counsel, but a
committee report is no substitute for the clear commandment of God.

Instead of the command to prepare food, you would have
expected Joshua to say, "Prepare boats or start building a bridge, so we
can cross the Jordan River." Joshua didn't try to second-guess God and
work things out for himself. He knew that the God who opened the Red Sea could
also open the Jordan River. He and Caleb had been present when God delivered
the nation from Egypt, and they had confidence that God would work on their
behalf again.

Though he trusted God for a miracle, Joshua still had to
prepare for the everyday necessities of life. Each family and clan had to
provide its own food. It was
important that the people stayed strong because they were about to begin a series
of battles for possession of their Promised Land.

Note that Joshua's words to his leaders were words of faith
and encouragement. "You shall pass over! You shall possess the land! The
Lord will give it to you!" Joshua had made a similar speech forty years
before, but that generation of leaders wouldn't listen. Now that generation was
dead, and the new generation was ready to believe God and conquer the land.

Caleb and Joshua were the oldest men in the camp, between
60 and 70 years of age, and yet they were enthusiastic about trusting God and
entering the land. It isn't a matter of age; it's a matter of faith; and faith
comes from meditating on the Word of God (Joshua 1:8; Romans 10:17).

Look up!!!!! God is still on His throne and be encouraged today!

God bless!
...more
6min
May 16, 2024 Joshua 1:7-9 - Encouragement From God's Command
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage;
do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever
you go."

Joshua is Israel’s new leader who is to accomplish what many
would consider to be an impossible task. He is to lead a new generation of Israelites
across the Jordan River and conquer the giants and all the enemies in the
Promise Land and then divide it up between the twelve tribes. As we have been
studying already, we have learned in this first chapter that God has given
Joshua several encouragements to assure him of victory.

In verses 1-2, God encouraged Joshua with a specific
calling and commission. To “arise and cross this Jordan and conquer this
land.” We are living in a day whereas God’s people we are surrounded by enemy
giants that would cause us to fear and be afraid. We are surrounded by ungodly,
wicked and evil people with an agenda to destroy America and Israel. And they
don’t just live in Iran or the Middle East, they have embedded themselves in
our media, our universities, and in the highest levels of our government! They
are determined to stamp out the knowledge of God, His Word, His Church, His people
Israel, and our Christian faith. These giants strike fear, worry, discouragement,
despair, depression into our hearts and minds.

Sadly, young people are growing up with no real purpose or
plan for their lives because they have never taken God into their lives and as
a result are living vain and empty lives without hope. I love the great resurrection
chapter of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 15 that assures us of our great eternal
future with God. This chapter ends with this admonition: “But thanks be to
God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my
beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians
15:57-58). Every believer has a ministry with a divine calling and commission that
assures us that whatever we do for the Lord and eternity will not be in vain.
We do not have to live empty and meaningless lives! By faith we can obey our
Lord and His commands and experience victory every day!

Joshua was also encouraged by God’s great promise that He
would be with him every day and every step of the way. (vv. 3-6). He was also assured
that he had God’s written Word to remind Him of God’s awesome greatness so that
he would prosper and be successful in fulfilling every assignment God gave him.
(vv. 7-8). We have these same promises today! Joshua only had the first five
Books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy. We now have all sixty-six complete
Books of the Holy Bible to instruct us, guide us, reprove us, correct us, and keep
us in the right way, so that we are well equipped for every good work (2
Timothy 3:16-17).

Finally in verse 9, Joshua received encouragement from
God's commandment. God's commandments are still God's enablement for those who
obey Him by faith. Gabriel's words to Mary are as true today as when he spoke
them in Nazareth: "For with God nothing shall be impossible"
(Luke 1:37). The very word that God speaks has in it the power of fulfillment
if we will but trust and obey!

In the years to come, whenever Joshua faced an enemy and
was tempted to be afraid, he would remember that he was a man with a divine
commission—and his fears would vanish. Whenever things went wrong and he was
tempted to be dismayed, he would recall God's command—and take new courage.
Like Moses before him, and Samuel and David after him, Joshua had a divine
mandate to serve the Lord and do His will—and that mandate was sufficient to
carry him through.

My friend, we have the same God and Lord Jesus Christ that has
called each of us to the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). In
His name we can experience victory every day!

God bless!
...more
6min
May 15, 2024 Joshua 1:7-9 - Encouragement From God's Written Word
Joshua 1 is an exciting chapter where God has given a new
leader to the nation of Israel, to lead them into a new land, and to let them
experience a new life of blessing and victory. For Joshua to accomplish his new
task he needed encouragement, so God gave him at three specific encouragements
and three promises to enable him with confidence to by faith trust the LORD on
this journey. First Joshua was assured that God had called and commissioned him
to be the leader of Israel. God then promised Joshua that He would be with him
(vv.5, 9), that he would be victorious over all their enemies (v. 5), and that he
would apportion the land to each tribe as its inheritance (v. 6).
Joshua must have been greatly encouraged by his specific
calling from God and by these three great promises of His presence and victory
over the enemy. But maybe the greatest encouragement that Joshua received was
from God’s written Word! (vv. 7-9). It's one thing to say to a leader, "Be
strong! Be very courageous!" and quite something else to enable him to do
it. Joshua's strength and courage would come from meditating on the Word of
God, believing its promises, and obeying its precepts. This was the counsel
Moses had given to all the people (Deut. 11:1-9), and now God was applying it
specifically to Joshua.
During the years of his leadership, Moses kept a written
record of God's words and acts and committed this record to the care of the
priests (Deuteronomy 31:9). The "Book of the Law" included "the
Book of the Covenant" (Deut. 24:4, 7), a record of the journeys of the
people from Egypt to Canaan (Numbers 33:2), special regulations dealing with
inheritance (Numbers 36:13), and also the song that Moses taught the people
(Deuteronomy 31:19).
In Deuteronomy 31:23-26, we read Moses closing words to the
nation of Israel just before he died: “Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of
Nun, and said, "Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the
children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with
you." So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in
a book, when they were finished..."
We have reason to believe the entire five
Books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) comprised "the Book of the
Law," the greatest legacy Moses could leave to his successor.

But it wasn't enough for the priests to carry and guard
this precious book; Joshua had to take time to read it daily and make it a part
of his inner person by meditating on it (Ps. 1:2; 119:97; see Deut. 17:18-20).
The Hebrew word translated "meditate" means "to mutter." It
was the practice of the Jews to read Scripture aloud (Acts 8:26-40) and talk
about it to themselves and to one another (Deut. 6:6-9). This explains why God
warned Joshua that the Book of the Law was not to depart out of his mouth (Joshua
1:8).

In the life of the Christian believer, prosperity and
success aren't to be measured by the standards of the world. These blessings
are the by-products of a life devoted to God and His Word. If you set out on
your own to become prosperous and successful, you may achieve your goal and
live to regret it. The questions God's people need to ask are: Did we obey the
will of God? Were we empowered by the Spirit of God? Did we serve to the glory
of God? If we can answer yes to these questions, then our ministry has been
successful in God's eyes, no matter what people may think.

David began with Book of Psalms telling us that the “blessed”
person will be the one whose “delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His
law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers
of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not
wither; And whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1:2-3). David might have
been meditating on Joshua chapter one when he wrote this!

God bless!
...more
6min
May 14, 2024 Joshua 1:5-9 - God Great Promises We Can Claim
Joshua was called by God to lead the people of Israel across
the Jordan River, to lead them to victory over their enemies in the Promise
Land, and then divide to each of the twelve tribes their inheritance in the
land. The LORD also gave him promises to encourage him to fulfill these
assignments. As we study through the Book of Joshua, we will see how God kept
all His promises and Joshua was successful.

Years later, when Solomon was dedicating the Temple, he proclaimed
to the people, "Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people
Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all
His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses” (1 Kings
8:56). Today I want to remind us of some of God’s great promises that we can claim!

The greatest promise that God made in the Bible is the
promise of a Messiah who would save us from our sins! That promise was first
made in Genesis 3:15. Then was more specific when God called Abraham and
promised him that he would have a “Seed” that would bless the whole world
(Genesis 12:1-3). The Apostle Paul recognized the fulfilment of this promise in
Acts 13:23, “From this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up
for Israel a Savior—Jesus”. Paul went on to say in Acts 13:32-33, “And
we declare to you glad tidings--that promise which was made to the fathers. God
has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus”. Have
you ever claimed this great promise?

Jesus Himself gave us the promise of the Holy Spirit in
John 14 and 16. After His resurrection Jesus commanded His disciples in Acts
1:4, “… not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the
Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me”. And in
verse eight that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Paul
put these two promises of Jesus and the Holy Spirit together in Galatians 3:14,
“That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Have you
ever claimed the promise of the Holy Spirit for your own life?

In John 14:3, Jesus also promised that He would come again.
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you
to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” When Jesus was
ascending to heaven the two angels reminded the disciples of this promise: “And
while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men
stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you
stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into
heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." (Acts
1:10-11). Are you looking forward to the fulfilment of this great promise!

We also have been given the promise of eternal life. John
said in 1 John 2:25, “And this is the promise that He has promised
us--eternal life.” Have you claimed
this wonderful promise as your own possession today?

Finally, Peter told us of another future great promise in 2
Peter 3:13, “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens
and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” Despite what the old world might look like
today, we have great promises to live on as we by faith believe that God keeps
all His promises!

God bless!
...more
6min
May 13, 2024 Joshua 1:5-9 - "...I Will Be With You"
Joshua 1:5-9
5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of
your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave
you nor forsake you.
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage;
do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you
wherever you go."

Joshua was called by God to lead the people of Israel across
the Jordan River, to lead them to victory over their enemies in the Promise
Land, and then divide to each of the twelve tribes their inheritance in the
land. When we know what our calling in life from God is, rather than trying to
accomplish our own personal desires, we will have confidence and courage to
face any challenge. For sure God has a plan and purpose for each of our lives,
and when we are driven by them, who knows what we might accomplish for His
glory and for eternity.

Along with our calling, the LORD also gives us promises to
assist us and to encourage us to fulfill His plan and purposes. The LORD God first
promised Joshua that he would successfully lead the people of Israel across the
Jordan River into the Promise Land (vv. 3-4). As we will see, this was miraculously
fulfilled in Joshua chapters 3-4.

Secondly, the LORD also gave Joshua the assignment of defeating
their enemies in the land. Remember there were giants there and forty years earlier
the ten spies had said that they had appeared as grasshoppers in their sight. With
this assignment, God also promised Joshua that as He was with Moses, He would
be with him. God promised that He “would not leave him or forsake him”, and
He “would be with him wherever he went” (vv. 5 and 9). We will see how that
God kept this promise in Joshua chapters 6-12.

My friend, God has given us these same promises as His
people. I will never forget when I was called and ordained to the “Gospel Ministry”
fifty years ago in Lynchburg Virginia. I was very fearful of getting in front
of people. I knew nothing about leadership, except from a few books I had been
reading, and from the leaders that were around me as I attended Bible college. Despite
my fears, I made the choice to claim God’s promises that I found in His Word
during those early days of my Christian life.

I claimed Philippians 1:6 as my life verse: “Being
confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will
complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”. I also memorized and often
reminded myself of 1 Thessalonians 5:24: “Faithful is he that calleth you,
who also will do it.”

All of us have been greatly encouraged by Psalm 23:1-4 over
the years and when our friends and loved ones faced the “valley of the shadow
of death. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my
soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for
thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

Today we can also claim Hebrews 13:5-6: “… Be content
with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave
you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I
will not fear. What can man do to me?"
This is a quote from Joshua 1:5! The Gospel of Matthew opens with "Emmanuel...
God with us" (1:23), and closes with Jesus saying, "Lo, I am
with you always" (28:20).

I trust that you will be blessed and encouraged today as you
remember these great promises and claim them for yourself!

God bless!

...more
5min
May 12, 2024 Joshua 1:1-6 - God's Great Promises
First, today on this beautiful Sunday here in North Carolina,
I want to give a shoutout to all the awesome mothers out there. Happy Mother’s
Day! I have been blessed to have two of the greatest mothers in all the world
in my life. My mother, Albertina Agnes Kozlovsky Grooms, was a Godly mother who
loved and prayed for all her children and grandchildren and was a beautiful
example of the Proverbs 31 wife and mother! She went to be with the Lord on
October 11, 2018 at 90 years of age. We all dearly miss her and today we honor
her memory! The other great mother, of course, is my wife, Edith Obenshain
Grooms! She has also loved and blessed our five children and grandchildren with
her prayers and sacrificial service and Godly example! The world is definitely
a better place because of her! Happy Mothers Day!!!!!

We all face difficult challenges in life and need
encouragement and motivation to overcome and deal with them. Joshua is a great
book to teach how we can by faith find our greatest encouragement from the Lord
and experience and enjoy blessed and victorious lives despite our circumstances
and problems.

The last couple of days we learned how Joshua was
encouraged by God because he had a definite calling and commission. He knew God
placed him in his role of leadership and had given him specific instructions as
to what His will and plan for his life was. Whenever we know that the Lord has
called us and given us a commission, we can have confidence and courage to face
whatever we must deal with.

God gave Joshua a threefold task to perform and for each of
those three tasks, God gave him three special promises. God promised He would
enable Joshua to cross the river and claim the land (vv. 3-4). God promised Joshua
that he would defeat the enemy (v. 5). And God promised Joshua that he would be
to one to apportion the land to each tribe as its inheritance (v. 6). God
didn't give Joshua explanations as to how He would accomplish these things,
because God's people live on promises and not on explanations. When you trust
God's promises and step out by faith (v. 3), you can be sure that the Lord will
give you the directions you need when you need them.

First, God promised Joshua that Israel would enter the land
(vv. 3-4). Over the centuries God had reaffirmed this promise, from His first
words to Abraham (Gen. 12) to His last words to Moses (Deut. 34:4). God would
take them over the Jordan and into enemy territory. He then would enable them
to claim for themselves the land that He had promised them. There would be no
repetition of the fear and unbelief that had brought the nation into defeat at
Kadesh Barnea (Num. 13). God had already given them the land; it was their
responsibility now to step out by faith and claim it (Josh 1:3; see Gen.
13:14-18). The same promise of victory that God had given to Moses (Num.
11:22-25), He reaffirmed to Joshua; and He carefully defined the borders of the
land.

The lesson for God's people today is clear: God has given
us all spiritual blessings...in Christ" (Eph. 1:3), and we must step out
by faith and claim them. He has set before His church an open door that nobody
can close (Rev. 3:8), and we must walk through that door by faith and claim new
territory for the Lord. It is impossible to stand still in Christian life and
service; for when you stand still, you immediately start going backward.
"Let us go on!" is God's challenge to His church (Heb. 6:1), and that
means moving ahead into new territory.
The Bible is a Book of Promises! May the Lord give us grace
to believe and by faith claim them for our lives and families today!

God bless!
...more
5min
May 11, 2024 Joshua 1:1-9 - Our Great Commission

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came
to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying:
2 "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go
over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to
them--the children of Israel.
Everything rises and falls on leadership. Every failure can
be attributed to a leadership failure. I believe God has given everyone the
responsibility of leadership. Every person is a leader in some way. We are
either leading others to do right and live a better life or we are leading
others to do wrong and live a bitter life. As parents we are called to lead our
children in the paths of righteousness. And first, we lead them by our
examples.

This weekend is Mother’s Day, a special day that we recognize
and honor our mothers. I heard a quote years ago that I believe is so true: “The
hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rocks the world!” We all have the opportunity
to make the world a better place to live by fulfilling our God given responsibility
of leadership.

As we said yesterday, leaders need encouragement. Especially
in our role as leaders we are going to meet the giants of discouragement and despair
and will want to give up. When we study the Book of Joshua, we see that Joshua
had to face the giants in the Promise Land and deal with all sorts of
discouraging issues. What keeps leaders going when everything around them is
falling apart and no one wants to listen.

In the first nine verses of Joshua 1, God gave Joshua at
least three sources of encouragements. In verses 1-2, God gave Joshua a calling
and a commission. In verses 3-6, God gave Joshua the promise of His presence.
And in verses 7-9, God gave Joshua His Word that would give him assurance and
guide him to success.

Joshua was called and commissioned to achieve at least
three things: lead the people into the land, defeat the enemy, and claim the
inheritance (vv. 3-6). Joshua was motivated every day by the fact that it was the
LORD that gave him his calling and direction for his leadership for the people
of Israel. When we know our calling is from the LORD Himself it should be a
great source of encouragement.

In Matthew 9:36-38, Jesus looked on the multitudes and was
moved with compassion because they were weary and scattered and like sheep
without a shepherd. He then told His disciples, "The
harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord
of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

The harvest fields are all the people of the world, and we
have a great commission from the Lord in Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15, to preach
the Gospel and tell these precious souls of God’s great love. This commission from
the Lord should encourage us and motivate us today to tell someone about Jesus!

God bless!
...more
6min
May 10, 2024 Joshua 1:1-9 - God Encourages His Leaders
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came
to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying:
2 "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go
over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to
them--the children of Israel.
For the past several days we have been looking at the
history and background of Joshua and how God prepared him to be the leader that
would follow the great Moses. Now as Joshua assumes this new awesome task of leadership,
he must have had a great amount of fear and a lot of questions. His experiences
with the people of Israel to this point has not always been a good one. They have
complained, murmured, rebelled and refused to listen to Moses on many
occasions.

For sure leaders need advice, but more than that they need
encouragement! For the next several days we will be looking at these first nine
verses of the Book of Joshua and see how God encouraged Joshua to overcome his
fears and have the courage to take on this great task of leading God’s people
to victory in the Promise Land.

When you feel like a midget taking the place of a giant,
you appreciate all the encouragement God sends your way. "To
encourage" literally means "to put heart into." As God's people
today face the challenges that God gives us, we would do well to learn from the
threefold encouragement found in this chapter.

First, in verses 1-2, we find out how God encouraged Joshua
by giving him a commission! Leaders don't lead forever, even godly leaders like
Moses. There comes a time in every ministry when God calls for a new beginning
with a new generation and new leadership. Except for Joshua and Caleb, the old
generation of Jews had perished during the nation's wanderings in the
wilderness; and Joshua was commissioned to lead the new generation into a new
challenge: entering and conquering the Promised Land. "God buries His
workmen, but His work goes on."

It was God who had chosen Joshua, and everybody in Israel
knew that he was their new leader. God commissioned Joshua to
achieve three things: lead the people into the land, defeat the enemy, and
claim the inheritance. God could have sent an angel to do this, but He chose to
use a man and give him the power he needed to get the job done. As we have
already seen, Joshua is a type of Jesus Christ, the Captain of our salvation
(Heb. 2:10), who has won the victory and now shares His spiritual inheritance
with us.

Every believer has a commission from God. Jesus told His disciples
in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you
that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that
whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” It is our calling and commission from God that
gives us the confidence and courage to face the challenges of leadership in our
homes, our churches, our vocations, and in our nation!

Be encouraged today and remember God has a special calling,
purpose and plan for every believer!

God bless!
...more
5min
May 09, 2024 Joshua 4:22-24 - "That All the Peoples of the Earth May Know..."
We are looking at the Book of Joshua and thinking about all
the spiritual lessons that we can learn and apply to our own lives. The Bible
is a Book, not only to be read, studied, memorized, and meditated upon, but a Book
to be practiced! When we look into the mirror of God’s Word we are to look into
our own hearts and find out where we are missing the mark, (that is what sin is),
and ask the Lord to cleanse us through His Word, His blood, and find
forgiveness, and then live a life that honors and glorifies Him!

The leading person in the Book of Joshua is not Joshua but
the Lord Jehovah, the God of Joshua and of Israel. In all that Joshua did by
faith, he desired to glorify the Lord. When the Jews crossed the Jordan River,
Joshua reminded them that the living God was among them and would overcome
their enemies. (Joshua
3:10-11)

Through Israel's obedience, Joshua wanted, not only for the
generations of Jews to come, but all the people of the earth to know the Lord
and fear Him. Then you shall let your children know, saying, 'Israel crossed
over this Jordan on dry land'; for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the
Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the
Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the
peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you
may fear the LORD your God forever" (Joshua 4:22-24).

Today, we are experiencing an open display of antisemitism,
a hatred for the Jews and Israel. We are hearing a loud and public cry for their
total destruction all around us. The question is being asked, what and who is
behind this? I believe I can tell you the answer to this question. The very
names, Israel and Jew, are the greatest proof that there is a living God in
heaven. They gave us the Bible and a Messiah, Who is our Savior. God’s
four-thousand year history of preserving the Jews and Israel as a people and nation
is a reminder to the devil and to everyone that there is a God in heaven to whom
we will have to give an account of our lives to one day! (Hebrews 9:27)

The plain and real truth is, that it is God they are
against! We live in a humanist world where we worship the creature rather than
the Creator. This is explained in Romans 1. We love ourselves and our sins.
Like the devil told Eve, “If you disobey God and eat this fruit, you will be
like God, and you can decide what is good and what is evil. You don’t need a
God in heaven running your life.” The lost person can’t enjoy their sin and
have God in their thoughts. To get rid of God, they must get rid of the Jews
and Israel! Honestly, I believe that is what is behind all this antisemitism today.

At least fourteen times in the Book of Joshua, God is
called "the Lord God of Israel" (7:13,19-20; 8:30; 9:18-19; 10:40,
42; 13:14, 33; 14:14; 22:24; 24:2, 23). Everything that Israel did brought
either glory or disgrace to the name of their God. When Israel obeyed by faith,
God kept His promises and worked on their behalf; and God was glorified. But
when they disobeyed in unbelief, God abandoned them to their own ways, and they
were humiliated in defeat. The same spiritual principle applies to the church
today.

As you look at your life and the life of the church where
you fellowship, do you see yourself and your fellow believers wandering in the
wilderness or conquering in the Promised Land? In the wilderness, the Jews were
a complaining people; but in Canaan, they were a conquering people. In the
wilderness, Israel kept looking back, yearning for what they had in Egypt; but
in the Promised Land, they looked forward to conquering the enemy and claiming
their rest and their riches. The wilderness march was an experience of delay,
defeat, and death; but their experience in Canaan was one of life, power, and
victory.

As you look at the "spiritual map" of your
Christian life, where are you living?

God bless!
...more
5min
May 08, 2024 Joshua 1:1-3 - Our Spiritual Journey
The Book of Joshua and the history of the nation of Israel
in the Old Testament were written to teach us some spiritual lessons about our spiritual
journey. Today as we continue our introduction to the Book of Joshua, we want
to look at the four geographic locations seen in the history of Israel and learn
how they illustrate four aspects of our own spiritual experiences.

Israel in Egypt was the place of death and bondage from
which they needed to be delivered. They were delivered from death by the blood
of the lamb and from bondage by the power of God who opened the Red Sea and
took them across safely. This illustrates the salvation we have through faith
in Jesus Christ, "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world!" (John 1:29) Through His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ
delivers the believing sinner from bondage and judgment.

The wilderness experience of Israel depicts believers who
live in unbelief and disobedience and don't enter into the rest and riches of
their inheritance in Christ, either because they don't know it's there or they
know and refuse to enter. Like Israel, they come to a crisis place (Kadesh
Barnea), but refuse to obey the Lord and claim His will for their lives (Num.
13-14). They are delivered from Egypt, but Egypt is still in their hearts; and
like the Jews, they have a desire to go back to the old life (Ex. 16:1-3; Num.
11; 14:2-4; see Isa. 30:3; 31:1). Instead of marching through life as
conquerors, they meander through life as wanderers and never enjoy the fullness
of what God has planned for them. It's this crowd that is especially addressed
in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Canaan represents the Christian life as it ought to be:
conflict and victory, faith and obedience, spiritual riches and rest. It's a
life of faith, trusting Jesus Christ, our Joshua, the Captain of our salvation
(Heb. 2:10), to lead us from victory to victory (1 John 5:4-5). When Israel was
in Egypt, the enemy was around them, making their lives miserable. When they
crossed the Red Sea, Israel put the enemy behind them; but when the nation
crossed the Jordan River, they saw new enemies before them, and they conquered
these enemies by faith.

The victorious Christian life isn't a once-for-all triumph
that ends all our problems. As pictured by Israel in the Book of Joshua, the
victorious Christian life is a series of conflicts and victories as we defeat
one enemy after another and claim more of our inheritance to the glory of God.

According to Joshua 11:23, the whole land was taken; but
according to Joshua 13:1, there remained "very much land to be
possessed." Is this a contradiction? No, it's the declaration of a
basic spiritual truth: In Christ, we have all that we need for victorious
Christian living, but we must possess our inheritance by faith, a step at a
time (Joshua 1:3), a day at a time. Joshua's question to his people is a good
question to ask the church today: "How long will you wait before you
begin to take possession of the land that the Lord...has given you?" (Joshua
18:3)

The fourth geographic location on Israel's "spiritual
map" is Babylon, where the nation endured seventy years of captivity
because they disobeyed God and worshiped the idols of the pagan nations around
them. (See 2 Chron. 36; Jer. 39:8-10). When God's children are willfully
rebellious, their loving Father must chasten them until they learn to be
submissive and obedient (Heb. 12:1-11). When they confess their sins and
forsake them, God will forgive and restore His children to fellowship and fruitfulness
(1 John 1:9; 2 Cor. 7:1).

It only took God one night to get Israel out of Egypt, but
it took Him 40 years to get Egypt out of them. Where are you on your spiritual
journey: In Egypt? In the wilderness? In the Promise Land? Or in captivity in Babylon?

Today it is my prayer for you, “that through the
patience and comfort of the Scriptures you might have hope.”

God bless!
...more
5min

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